Makapangkabuhayang Lipunan ng mga Kaibigan ng Bansa: Pagkakaiba sa mga binago

The Sociedades Económicas were founded as part of a movement to stimulate the economic and intellectual development of Spain. Many Spaniards recognized that Spain was lagging behind other European states and sought to diffuse and apply the principles of the Enlightenment. A principal promoter of the Societies' foundation was [[Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes]], a highly influential statesman and one of the most important thinkers in contemporary Spain. Campomanes, on a more practical level, saw that the Societies could stimulate improvements in [[agriculture]], [[husbandry]], [[industry]], the professions and arts. The first was founded in [[Vergara]], [[Guipúzcoa]], in [[1765]], by the [[Marquis de Peñaflorida]] [[Javier Munive e Idiaquez]]. According to Popescu, "within a few years" the number of Economic Societies in Spain had passed 50, and they were present in all major population centers.

 

 

In the colonies, Sociedades Económicas were established in [[Havana]] ([[1793]]), [[Santiago, Chile]], [[Santa Cruz de Mompox]] ([[1784]]), [[Bogotá]] (under the name of "Patriotic Society", [[1801]]) [[Buenos Aires]], [[Guatemala]], [[Quito]], as well as in The Philippines. Only one of these groups, that of Guatemala, is known to have had any significant local influence at the time, and only one of them lasted for a long period of time (that of Havana exists today). Their mission of promoting local economic development, especially industry, conflicted with the dictates of [[mercantilism]], which held that the colonies should remain dependent on the mother country. To the degree that intellectual development lagged in the New World, the Societies also had to fight an uphill battle to popularise Enlightenment thinking in the context of a very conservative culture.